Assemblable furniture



G. H. KILE Feb. 3, 1970 Filed March 12, 1968 INVENTOR. GENE H. KILE BY ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,493,281 ASSEMBLABLE FURNITURE Gene H. Kile, Elba, N.Y., assignor to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 12, 1968, Ser. No. 712,435 Int. Cl. A47b 47/04 US. Cl. 312-257 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Molded plastic components for decorative application to wood furniture have been used in the industry for a number of years. In recent developments, plastic door and drawer fronts have been used to replace rather than decorate wood parts on furniture, especially on cabinets, and the wood legs on some furniture have been replaced by molded plastic legs. These developments have been possible because the technique of molding realistic simulated wood furniture components has advanced to the point where it is diflicult to distinguish between wood and plastic and, of course, the use of plastic components effects a significant saving in the cost of the furniture.

While the foregoing applications of plastic components in styled furniture have provided economic benefits to the consumer, even greater economies can be effected if the use of plastic components is further expanded.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to enhance the use of molded components in styled furniture.

Another object of this invention is to provide improved molded furniture components of economic design.

A further object of this invention is to enhance the use of molded components for styled furniture in a manner which permits flexibility of style.

According to one aspect of the invention, end panels including front legs, back legs and the necessary support structure are molded as a single integral component. Furthermore, the end panels are designed to be symmetrical about a fixed line to thereby permit the molding of both end panels from a single mold.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of a molded cabinet according to the invention; and

FIGURE 2 is a view of the exterior integral side of a cabinet according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For a better understanding of the present invention together with other and further objects, advantages and capabilities thereof, reference is made to the following disclosure and appended claims in connection with the above-described drawings. For ease of understanding the invention will be described as it pertains to a cabinet structure, e.g., a television cabinet, having at least two sides oppositely disposed. However, it will be apparent that the invention is equally applicable to other items of furniture.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is shown a cabinet having a left and a right side, 11 and 13, respectively, a top 15, a pair of upper support members 17, a pair of lower support members 19 and a decorative frontispiece 21. The cabinet sides, 11, 13 each include front and rear legs 23, 25, front and rear corner posts 27, 29 and structural side 30 as required. The support members 17, 19 are suitably secured to the cabinet sides 11, 13 using on of a number of commonly accepted fastening means, for example, by using a suitable adhesive material or alternatively by passing fastening screws through the openings 31, 33 in the flange portions of the support members. The decorative frontispiece 21 is similarly secured to the lower front support member 19 or to the front corner posts 27. The cabinet top 15 may be suitably secured to the top support members 17 through the openings 35 therein or can be secured by adhesive material to the support members 17 or the cabinet sides 11, 13.

In this embodiment, each of the cabinet sides 11, 13 including the end posts, legs and structural side is an integral unit formed in a single mold of a suitable moldable plastic material. For example, the end portions 11, 13 may be made of styrene using an injection molding process. The upper and lower support members, the top and the decorative frontispiece may be made of any suit able material including wood, metal or plastic, and the cabinet may further include doors, drawers and other functional or decorative components.

In addition, further economies can be effected if the cabinet sides are designed to be bilaterally symmetrical about their vertical center 39 as illustrated in FIGURE 2. For styling and appearance, on the portion of each side which will be exposed in the finally assembled furniture, the grain and design are bilaterally symmetrical about the axis so that the rear portion of one side conforms to the front portion of the opposite side. In addition, on the interior portion of each side all slots, supports, etc. utilized in assembling the cabinet are bilaterally symmetrical to permit the use of the molded unit as either the right or left-hand side. Referring to FIGURE 1, the left-hand rear end post 29 may contain a screw slot 41 adapted to receive a screw passed through opening 33 in the rear support member 19 to connect this member to the side 11. Therefore, the front end post 43 of the right-hand side 13 will contain a similar slot (not shown) even though such a slot may or may not be utilized to connect the front support member 19 to the right-hand side 13. Thus, each side exhibits bilateral symmetry about the vertical axis 39 and the right and left-hand side are isomorphic. Therefore, the two sides can be fabricated from the same mold.

Even though the entire furniture side is produced as an integral unit, it is still possible to have a great deal of freedom in styling and design. For example, a basic mold is fabricated to permit inclusion of the structural side, end posts and legs. Then inserts having various desired configurations are adapted to the basic mold to yield the particular period of design desired. Therefore, it is possible using a single basic mold to produce sides conforming to Mediterranean, Early American, Italian Provincial, etc. styles.

While there has been shown and described what is at present considered the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An assemblable article of furniture having at least two isomorphic side portions oppositely disposed and connected together by support means wherein one of said side portions of the furniture includes front and rear 3 end posts, front and rear legs and a structural side portion as an integral unit made of moldable material and exhibiting bilateral symmetry about a vertical axis.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein the sides of the furniture are bilaterally symmetrical about a vertical axis whereby both sides are identical, interchangeable and may be fabricated from a single mold.

3. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said article of furniture is a television cabinet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,294,905 12/1966 Jonassen.

4 FOREIGN PATENTS 1/1930 Great Britain. 5/1958 France.

OTHER REFERENCES 10 JAMES T. MCCALL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

